May 19, 2005 - Thursday
"Under Pressure," the classic from Queen and David Bowie, came on the radio on the way to the boys' music lessons this afternoon and I guess I started to sing along a little.
"No, daddy, I'm trying to hear what he's doing," said Harry.

I'm sure Harry was talking about listening to the drummer. I've often turned around and said, "Harry, listen to this drumming," or "did you hear what the drummer did?" and I've done it more often since Harry started taking drum lessons. Harry usually says something like, "yeah," although it's often not clear whether he has indeed heard it or if he is just saying 'yeah' for dad. This is easily the first time he's said anything like "quiet, I'm trying to listen" and that, I think, is remarkable for a five-year-old.

It turned out that tonight was the night I got to sit in for part of Harry's lesson. I always sit in on Jeremy's cello lesson, but Abe liked it one-on-one from the start and that was fine. Tonight I listened to the second half of the lesson: actually Abe and I talked for moswt of that time about how things were going and what Harry might play in his first recital next month, all while Harry banged away manically behind the drums. I mentioned that for Harry at five, and especially for Jeremy at three-years-old, I was hoping for little more from these lessons than for the boys to have a positive and fun experience that might make them want to learn more at some point in the future. If they can gain a little confidence through music, that just makes the whole thing ideal. And if there's a little progress made, and there really is noticeable improvement with Harry (and Jeremy, too, but it's admittedly and expectedly more subtle), that's just glorious. I said that so far I couldn't be happier.

It's hard for me to know how relieved Abe might have been to hear that. He seems like a pretty easy going guy, a drummer after all, but certainly different parents have different expectations and surely most of Abe's students, all at least a few years older, make progress more quickly. Still, I've gotten the sense that Abe kind of likes the change of pace that Harry's half an hour offers and I hope my saying I'm happy just helps him enjoy it. Abe was equally impressed that Harry told me to be quiet so he could listen to Roger Taylor play the drums on "Under Pressure."


Comments, Opinions?